J1 Hardship Waiver 2021-2022 Timeline

[Hardship_waiver 50]

59 minutes ago, PeterW said:

That is a good idea. Thanks

Great. I just sent them an email. I will call them tomorrow. Thanks

Those with USC spouse hardship are staying in US even after expiry of their status as they know their unlawful presence can be forgiven when they file for green card, but those with USC child are facing a hell-like situation. Once they file waiver, they stop looking other country options hoping decision will come before their status expires only to know that DOS will take infinite time to process it. Once status ends and they stay, they risk their green card. 

If DOS is facing backlog issues due to covid, they should provide some protection for hardship waiver applicants (persecution cases are still being processed faster). Sad to see that nobody cares here for this aspect. Expedite requests/congressional inquiries are already over.

[PeterW 17]

2 hours ago, Hardship_waiver said:

Those with USC spouse hardship are staying in US even after expiry of their status as they know their unlawful presence can be forgiven when they file for green card, but those with USC child are facing a hell-like situation. Once they file waiver, they stop looking other country options hoping decision will come before their status expires only to know that DOS will take infinite time to process it. Once status ends and they stay, they risk their green card. 

If DOS is facing backlog issues due to covid, they should provide some protection for hardship waiver applicants (persecution cases are still being processed faster). Sad to see that nobody cares here for this aspect. Expedite requests/congressional inquiries are already over.

Yes. It is impossible for the US kid to live indepently in the USA without their J visa parents. But the time of recommedation is horribly long. when the J program end, they have to leave. As a result, the US kid with medical problems will have not sufficient medical support in the home country of their parents. Nobody care the kids' health?

[ssssssaa 1]

At this time am asking myself why we went the hardship route???! why we did not take the regular J1 waiver route, maybe we did not know better! we did not ask enough! we just consulted lawyers who only care about money 

I feel sacred and frustrated at this moment  we worked so hard for this, it has been already tough enough  

following this group made us feel all zero hope 

am sorry for this post I hope am wrong and things start to move rationally 

[neonatal2023 2]

Hi! Anyone applying for exceptional hardship with US citizen spouse and child? How long is it taking? I started the process Nov 2021, since Jun 2022 in DOS.. I am finishing fellowship Jun 2023! Can I stay in the US while the process gets approved? 

[neonatal2023 2]

is there an opportunity to get another DS2019, another year of J1 VISA while waiting for the Hardship to be approved? 

[SMARCA4 15]

Just now, neonatal2023 said:

is there an opportunity to get another DS2019, another year of J1 VISA while waiting for the Hardship to be approved? 

Yes, you’re eligible for DS2019 as long as DOS hasn’t issued a favorable recommendation yet.

[ErinK 35]

37 minutes ago, neonatal2023 said:

Hi! Anyone applying for exceptional hardship with US citizen spouse and child? How long is it taking? I started the process Nov 2021, since Jun 2022 in DOS.. I am finishing fellowship Jun 2023! Can I stay in the US while the process gets approved? 

Many in this group have applied with US citizen spouse and child. Mine has been with DoS for the past 10 months and still nothing. Before that it was with USCIS for 8 months including an RFE. You can't stay legally just because your case is pending. Start looking into another J-1 or changing to O-1. O-1 package preparation takes a long time so start early and hire a lawyer that specializes in  O-1/EB1/NIW. Chen is really good. 

[J1 Physician 4]

1 hour ago, AnasMD said:

Yes, you’re eligible for DS2019 as long as DOS hasn’t issued a favorable recommendation yet.

Can we get a J1 stamped on new DS2019 while the waiver is at DOS?

[neonatal2023 2]

@ErinK my lawyer told me I am ok to stay in the US while I get my hardship approved but I just can’t work.. is this not true? 

[Wyboxcx 45]

4 hours ago, ErinK said:

Many in this group have applied with US citizen spouse and child. Mine has been with DoS for the past 10 months and still nothing. Before that it was with USCIS for 8 months including an RFE. You can't stay legally just because your case is pending. Start looking into another J-1 or changing to O-1. O-1 package preparation takes a long time so start early and hire a lawyer that specializes in  O-1/EB1/NIW. Chen is really good. 

Mine is stuck with USCIS for 8 months now with not even an RFE request. 

[ErinK 35]

4 hours ago, neonatal2023 said:

@ErinK my lawyer told me I am ok to stay in the US while I get my hardship approved but I just can’t work.. is this not true? 

Get second and third opinions. Many lawyers answer simple questions like this without charging you anything. I asked 3 lawyers and all told me I can't stay.

 

 

[Hardship_waiver 50]

15 hours ago, neonatal2023 said:

@ErinK my lawyer told me I am ok to stay in the US while I get my hardship approved but I just can’t work.. is this not true? 

If you have a U.S.C spouse and you stay here illegibly (after expiry of your J-1) waiting for the waiver, this illegal time will automatically be forgiven at the time you file for the green card. As you will not have any status during this illegal time, you cannot apply for work authorization. Also you can get into trouble if you caught by police in some case etc. Before expiry of your DS-2019, apply for O-1 or B1/B2 whose processing (pending) will give you legal status to stay. 

With DOS hardship processing almost at halt, more and more people are getting out of status. It was never like that before. We are unfortunate ones. 

[Hardship_waiver 50]

12 hours ago, Freidrichm said:

Mine is stuck with USCIS for 8 months now with not even an RFE request. 

California service center normal processing time for I-612 is 10 months. Raise a service request as soon as it reaches 10th month (I wish it moves to DOS earlier).

[Hardship_waiver 50]

17 hours ago, neonatal2023 said:

Hi! Anyone applying for exceptional hardship with US citizen spouse and child? How long is it taking? I started the process Nov 2021, since Jun 2022 in DOS.. I am finishing fellowship Jun 2023! Can I stay in the US while the process gets approved? 

Most of the people you see in this group are in their 10-17 months at DOS (still pending). My 11th month is starting after a week. By July 2023 (including your 30 day grace period), it will be your 13th month. You can try expedite request, congress person (most of the people are not having any luck these days but its better to try), J-1 extension or apply for some other status is a possibility when you get near June 2023.

If you get any updates, do update us. Good luck.   

[neonatal2023 2]

I have also applied for Temporary Protected status (TPS) so my hope is that application gets approved soon and I could potentially start working with that while my hardship gets approved. Anyone else is on the same boat?